How to use ATUS microdata files

Researchers can produce their own time-use estimates using the ATUS microdata files. The
ATUS data files include information for over 200,000 respondents total from
2003 to 2018. Because of the size of these data files, it is easiest to
work with them using statistical software such as Stata, SAS, or SPSS.

There are several key pieces of documentation that will aid you when
working with the data files. The ATUS User's Guide (PDF)
includes information about how to link the data files and use them to
produce estimates and standard errors. The Data Dictionaries
include variable definitions. The Activity Coding Lexicons
provide information about the activity codes. If you would like some hints
about useful variables and where to find them, read the ATUS documentation
about Frequently Used
Variables (PDF).

About the ATUS Well-Being Module Data files The Well-Being (WB) Module was fielded from
January through December 2010, 2012, and 2013. The WB Module data files contain information related to how people felt
during selected activities, as well as general health information.

About the ATUS Leave Module Data files The Leave Module was fielded from
January through December 2011. The Leave Module data files contain information related to wage and salary workers' access to and use of leave and schedule adjustments.

ABOUT THE BASIC ATUS DATA FILES:

ATUS Respondent File

This file contains case-specific variables collected in ATUS (that
is, variables for which there is one value for each respondent). These
include, for example, labor force and earnings information, total time
providing secondary childcare, and ATUS statistical weights.

There is one record for each ATUS respondent.

Below is a simplified example. The variable TUCASEID identifies each
household, and the variable TULINENO identifies each individual within
the household. The example contains responses from five individuals;
note that the respondent always has TULINENO = 1. In the example, each
respondent has a corresponding statistical weight for use in generating
estimates representative of the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized
population (TUFINLWGT), and values for school enrollment (TESCHENR),
labor force status (TELFS), and total number of minutes spent alone on
the diary day (TRTALONE). The actual ATUS Respondent file contains more
variables and records.

This file contains information about the age, sex, and relationship
to the ATUS respondent of every household member. The same information
also is included for the respondent's own non-household children under
age 18.

There is one record for each individual in the respondent's household
(including the respondent's own non-household children under age
18).

A simplified example appears below. The variable TUCASEID identifies
each household and the variable TULINENO identifies each individual in
the household. In the example below, TUCASEID 20060101020210 has three
persons residing in the household, and TUCASEID 20060101020211 and
TUCASEID 200601010120212 each have one person. The variable TERRP
contains information about the individual's relationship to the ATUS
respondent, TESEX shows the person's sex and TEAGE shows the person's
age. The actual ATUS Roster file contains more variables and many
additional lines.

This file includes activity-level information collected in the ATUS,
including activity code, location, duration, activity start and stop
times, and whether respondents had a child under 13 in their care during
the activity.

There is one record for each activity.

A simplified example of the ATUS Activity file appears below. This is
an illustration of one respondent's day. Because only one person is
interviewed per household, each TUCASEID on the Activity file identifies
a respondent. Each activity is identified by an activity number
(TUACTIVITY_N). The variable TUACTDUR24 shows the duration, in minutes,
of each activity during the 24-hour diary day, and the variables
TUTIER1CODE, TUTIER2CODE, and TUTIER3CODE correspond to the 1st-, 2nd-,
and 3rd-tier of the ATUS activity codes. (The Activity Coding Lexicons
provide information about the activity codes.) The ATUS Activity file
contains more variables describing each activity as well as many more
lines than the example below.

The ATUS Activity Summary file contains information about the total
number of minutes each respondent spent doing each activity. The file
also includes selected variables from the ATUS Respondent, ATUS Roster,
and ATUS-CPS files.

There is one record for each ATUS respondent.

A simplified example of the ATUS Activity Summary file appears below.
The variable TUCASEID is the unique identifier for each respondent and
the variable TEAGE, which also appears on the Roster file, shows each
respondent's age. The variable t010101 contains the total number of
minutes each respondent spent doing activity 010101, "sleeping"; the
variable t010102 contains the total number of minutes each respondent
spent doing activity 010102, "sleeplessness." The ATUS Activity Summary
file contains more variables describing each activity as well as many
more lines than the example below.

This file contains codes that indicate who was present during each
activity.

There is one record for each "who" code for each activity. There is
one record for activities done alone and multiple records for activities
with multiple people present. "Who" codes are not collected for some
activities, such as when respondents report sleeping or grooming; in
these situations a "-1" denotes that the "who" question was not asked
for that activity.

A simplified example of the ATUS Who file appears below. In the first
activity (TUACTIVITY_N = 1), no who code information was collected.
Only one person was with the respondent during the second activity, so
there is one line for TUACTIVITY_N = 2. Three people were with the
respondent during the third activity, so there are three lines for
TUACTIVITY_N = 3. Two of those present (TUWHO_CODE = 20 and 22) are
members of the respondents household and can be linked to the Roster
file using TULINENO. The third person present (TUWHO_CODE = 51) is not a
member of the respondents household and thus has a value of "-1" for
TULINENO. The actual ATUS Who file contains more variables for each line
as well as many additional lines.

This file contains information collected during the final interview
of the Current Population Survey (CPS) for all persons selected to
participate in ATUS, whether they did or did not participate, and
members of their households. The CPS interviews were conducted two to
five months prior to the ATUS interview. For this reason, some of the
information on the ATUS-CPS file was out of date at the time of the ATUS
interview. When possible, it is best to use variables collected in ATUS
rather than their CPS counterparts.

The file has one record for each household member.

A simplified example of the ATUS-CPS file appears below. In the
example, three households are shown, each represented by a unique value
for TUCASEID. Each TULINENO refers to a different household member.
TULINENO = 1 refers to the household member who was selected to
participate in ATUS. To determine whether this individual participated in ATUS,
the variable TRATUSR (starting in 2006), identifies those persons who responded to the ATUS interview.
This example shows some of the variables
that are not updated in ATUS, such as information about educational
attainment (PEEDUCA), race (PTDTRACE), and geographic region (GEREG).
The actual ATUS-CPS file contains more variables for each line as well
as many additional lines.

The ATUS Eldercare Roster file contains information about people for whom the respondent provided eldercare. If the respondent indicated that she had provided eldercare more than once
during the past 3 to 4 months, additional information about each eldercare recipient is collected. (The time frame varied slightly by respondent because the question asked about
care provided between the 1st of a reference month and the interview day.) There is one record for each recipient, up to a maximum of 5 records for each respondent.
Information about the relationship of the recipient to the respondent, the age of the recipient, and the duration that care had been provided appear on the file.

A simplified example of the ATUS Eldercare Roster file appears below. The TUCASEID identifies each respondent providing eldercare, and the TULINENO identifies recipients in the
household. A value of -1 for TULINENO indicates that the eldercare recipient does not live in the household. In the example below, TUCASEID 20110101020210 provided care to two
persons not living in the household, TUCASEID 20110101020211 provided care to one person, who does live in the household, and TUCASEID 20110101020215 and TUCASEID 20110101020218
each provided care to one person not living in their households. The actual ATUS Eldercare Roster file contains more variables and many additional lines.

ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL ATUS DATA FILES:

The ATUS Case History file contains case-specific information about
the interview process, such as interviewer identifiers, outcome codes,
and data quality variables.

There is one record for each person who was selected to participate
in ATUS, whether the selected person did or did not complete an ATUS
interview.

Below is a simplified example. TUCASEID identifies each person
selected to participate in ATUS; this example contains information from
five individuals who were selected for the ATUS sample. Each value of
TUCASEID is associated with variables that list the final outcome code
(TRFNLOUT), the number of activities respondents reported doing on their
diary day (TUTOTACTNO), the average duration of reported activities
(TUAVGDUR), and an interviewer identification number (TUINTID). Note
that two of the cases do not show information for TUTOTACTNO and
TUAVGDUR; this is because they were noncontacts (that is, they did not
participate in ATUS), as is indicated by the value of TRFNLOUT. The
actual ATUS Case History file contains additional variables and many
more lines.

The ATUS Call History file contains information about each call
attempt that was made to persons selected to participate in ATUS. It
includes information such as outcome codes for each call, the date and
time of each call attempt, and interviewer identifiers. This file
contains information for all persons selected to participate in ATUS,
whether they did or did not participate in the survey.

There is one record for each ATUS call attempt.

Below is a simplified example. TUCASEID identifies each ATUS case and
TUATTMPTNO identifies each call attempt. The example shows information
from two cases that were selected for the ATUS sample. The first case
(TUCASEID = 20060101020210) received two calls from an ATUS interviewer,
with the second call resulting in a complete interview; the second case
(TUCASEID = 20060101020211) received three calls before resulting in a
complete interview. The variable TRFNLCLL shows the outcome of each
call. An anonymous interviewer identification number (TUHINTID) is
associated with each call attempt.

The ATUS Replicate Weights file contains weights necessary for
generating standard errors for ATUS estimates. The file contains one
record for each individual selected to participate in ATUS, whether the
person did or did not participate in the survey. Technical information
about the Replicate weights file can be found in the text document that
is enclosed in the Replicate weights zip file. The formula for
calculating standard errors with the replicate weights can be found in
Chapter 7 of the ATUS User's Guide
(PDF).

ABOUT THE ATUS EATING & HEALTH MODULE DATA FILES:

EH Respondent File

The EH Respondent file contains case-specific variables collected in the EH Module (that is,
variables for which there is one value for each respondent).
These include, for example, general health information, body mass index values, and EH Module statistical weights.

There is one record for each EH Module respondent.

Below is a simplified example. The TUCASEID identifies each household, and
TULINENO identifies each individual within the household. The example contains responses from five individuals;
note that the respondent always has TULINENO=1. In the example, each respondent has a corresponding statistical weight (EUFINLWGT)
for use in generating estimates representative for the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population age 15 and over.
Estimates using EH Module data should be generated using EUFINLWGT instead of the ATUS statistical weight (TUFINLWGT)
because there are fewer EH Module respondents than ATUS respondents due to minimal nonresponse by ATUS respondents to the EH Module.
This example also demonstrates that each respondent has corresponding values denoting general health status (EUGENHTH) and
total time spent in primary eating and drinking (ERTPREAT). The actual EH Respondent file
contains many more variables as well as many more lines.

TUCASEID

TULINENO

EUFINLWGT

EUGENHTH

ERTPREAT

20060101020210

1

23264358.19

1

40

20060101020211

1

7013642.31

5

350

20060101020212

1

5780754.07

2

556

20060101020213

1

18426068.74

3

0

20060101020214

1

2916445.94

1

100

EH Child File (2006-2008 only)

The EH CHild file contains information about which household children under age 19 ate
a breakfast or lunch prepared at a school, day care, Head Start center, or summer day program.

If at least one child in the respondentís household ate such a breakfast or lunch, then there is one
record for each child under age 19 in the respondentís household, regardless of whether or not each
child ate such a breakfast or lunch. For example, a household with three children under 19, only one
of whom ate a school meal, will have a record for all three children on EH Child.
Information about children under age 19 in households where no one ate a prepared meal will not be on this file.

A simplified example appears below. TUCASEID identifies each household, and TULINENO identifies each household child under the age of 19.
In the example below, TUCASEID 20060101020210 has two children under age 19. The first (TULINENO=2) ate a prepared breakfast (EEBRK=1) and did not
eat a prepared lunch (EELCH=2). The second child (TULINENO=3) did not eat a prepared breakfast or a prepared lunch. The actual EH Child file contains
many more variables and many additional lines.

The EH Activity File includes activity-level information collected in the EH Module,
including activity number, whether secondary eating occurred during the activity,
and duration of secondary eating.

There is one record for each activity.

A simplified example of the EH Activity file appears below. This is an illustration of one respondents day.
Because only one person is interviewed per household, each TUCASEID on the EH Activity file identifies a respondent.
Each activity is identified by an activity number (TUACTIVITY_N). In the example, each activity has corresponding
values denoting whether secondary eating occurred during the activity (EUEATSUM) and how much time
was spent in secondary eating (EUEDUR24). The actual EH Activity file contains more variables describing each
activity as well as many more lines than does the example below.

The EH Replicate Weights file contains weights necessary for generating standard errors for EH Module estimates.
The file contains one record for each individual who responded to the EH Module.
Technical information about the EH Replicate weights file can be found in the text document that is enclosed
in the EH Module Replicate Weights zip file. The formula for calculating standard errors with the
replicate weights can be found in Chapter 7 of the ATUS User's Guide (PDF).

ABOUT THE ATUS WELL-BEING MODULE DATA FILES:

WB Respondent File

The WB Respondent file contains case-specific variables collected in the WB Module (that is,
variables for which there is one value for each respondent). These include, for example, general health information,
how well-rested the respondent felt on his diary day (the day about which he was interviewed), and WB Module respondent-level statistical weights.

There is one record for each WB Module respondent.

Below is a simplified example. The TUCASEID identifies each household, and TULINENO identifies each individual within the
household. The example contains responses from 5 individuals; note that the respondent always has TULINENO=1.
(All records on the WB Respondent file have TULINENO=1 because only one person in the household responded to the ATUS.) In
the example, each respondent has a corresponding statistical weight (WUFINLWGT) for use in generating estimates. The
respondent-level weight WUFINLWGT is similar to the ATUS statistical weight TUFINLWGT except that it is adjusted to account
for minimal nonresponse by ATUS respondents to the WB Module. WUFINLWGT should be used instead of
TUFINLWGT for many estimates derived using the Well-being Module data; an exception is when the calculation uses module
data about the randomly-selected activities appearing on the WB Activity file. This example also
demonstrates that each respondent has corresponding values denoting general health status (WEGENHTH) and how well-rested the
respondent felt (WEREST). The actual WB Respondent file contains additional variables as well as many more lines.

TUCASEID

TULINENO

WUFINLWGT

WEGENHTH

WEREST

20100101100605

1

4040229.08

5

2

20100604101229

1

1438440.99

4

1

20100807100994

1

3151945.82

2

4

20060101020213

1

18426068.74

3

0

20100908101868

1

1621125.07

1

3

20101211101129

1

14724370.75

3

1

WB Activity File

In the WB Module, the survey randomly selected 3 activities reported by each respondent. For each selected activity, the
respondents were asked 7 questions related to quality of life (5 affect questions, 1 question about how meaningful the activity was,
and 1 question about whether the respondent was interacting with anyone during the activity). The affect questions asked how
happy, tired, stressed, sad, and in pain the respondent felt during the activity. The order of the 5 affect questions was
randomly determined for each respondent. This file includes the activity-level information collected in the WB Module, including activity number, and
information about how the respondent felt during the selected activities.

There is one record for each activity selected for the module. The activity must have been at least 5 minutes in duration to have
been selected for the module. The following activities and responses were not eligible for selection:

Sleeping (0101xx)

Grooming (0102xx)

Personal Activities (0104xx)

Donít know/Canít remember (500106)

Refusal/None of your business (500105)

A simplified example of the WB Activity file appears below. This is an illustration of one respondentís day.
Because only one person was interviewed per household, each TUCASEID on the WB Activity file identifies a respondent.
Each activity is identified by an activity number (TUACTIVITY_N). In the example, each activity has corresponding values
denoting how happy the respondent felt during the activity (WUHAPPY), whether the respondent was interacting with anyone
during the activity (WUINTERACT), and the activity-level statistical weight (WUFNACTWTC). The actual WB Activity file contains more variables describing the feelings associated with
each selected activity as well as many more lines than does the example below.

TUCASEID

TUACTIVITY_N

WUHAPPY

WUINTERACT

WUFNACTWTC

20100101102152

2

3

2

12059879.6

20100101102152

7

1

2

2009974.4

20100101102152

13

6

1

4019965.4

WB Activity Weights

The WB Module activity weight variables, WUFNACTWTC on the single-year data files and WUFNACTWTP on the multi-year data file, are designed for use with data collected about the randomly-selected
activities in the module. WUFNACTWTC or WUFNACTWTP can be used to estimate average levels of affect for the population during
activities eligible for the module. The weights account for differences between activities in the fraction of time spent in
eligible activities. They also account for differences between persons in the probability of having a specific eligible activity
selected due to variation in the number of eligible activities. For more information about the WB Module activity weight variables, see
the ATUS WB Module Data Dictionary.

NOTE: There was an error in the activity selection process for the 2010, 2012, and part of the 2013 Well-Being Module to the ATUS.
The adjusted activity weights (WUFNACTWTC on the single-year data files and WUFNACTWTP on the multi-year data file) help mitigate this error.
Read More

WB Replicate Weights Files

The WB Replicate Weights files contain weights necessary for generating standard errors for WB Module
estimates. The WB Respondent Replicate weights file contains one record for each individual who responded to the WB Module. The WB
Activity Replicate weights file contains one record for each activity selected for the WB Module. Technical information about the
WB Replicate weights files can be found in the text document that is enclosed in the WB Module Replicate Weights
zip files. The formula for calculating standard errors with the replicate weights can be found in Chapter 7 of the
ATUS User's Guide (PDF).

NOTE: There was an error in the activity selection process for the 2010, 2012, and part of the 2013 Well-Being Module to the ATUS.
The adjusted activity replicate weights (WUFNACTWTC on the single-year data files and WUFNACTWTP on the multi-year data file) help mitigate this error.
Read More

ABOUT THE ATUS LEAVE MODULE DATA FILES:

LV Respondent File

This file contains case-specific variables collected in the Leave Module (that is, variables for which there is one value for each respondent).
These include, for example, information about access to paid leave, whether the respondent took paid leave during the past 7 days, and Leave Module
statistical weights.

There is one record for each Leave Module respondent.

Below is a simplified example. The TUCASEID identifies each household, and TULINENO identifies each individual within the household.
The example contains responses from 6 individuals; note that the respondent always has TULINENO=1. (All records on the Leave Respondent file have
TULINENO=1 because only one person in the household responded to the ATUS.) In the example, each respondent has a corresponding statistical weight
(LUFINLWGT) for use in generating estimates representative of wage and salary workers in the U.S. civilian noninstitutional population age 15 and over.
The statistical weight LUFINLWGT should be used instead of the ATUS statistical weight TUFINLWGT when using Leave Module data. There are fewer Leave Module
respondents than ATUS respondents because the module was asked of wage and salary workers only, and some eligible ATUS respondents did
not complete the module; LUFINLWGT accounts for the difference in the ATUS and Leave Module populations and for minimal nonresponse.

This example also demonstrates that each respondent has corresponding values denoting access to paid leave (LUPAID) and whether the respondent took
leave during the past 7 days (LULEAVE). The actual LV Respondent file contains additional variables as well as many more lines.

TUCASEID

TULINENO

LUFINLWGT

LUPAID

LULEAVE

20110101100702

1

5620229.08

1

2

20110604101236

1

1438663.25

2

1

20110807100989

1

3151789.63

2

2

20110101020213

1

56896068.74

1

2

20110908142868

1

1628924.07

1

1

20111215623129

1

14895670.75

2

1

LV Replicate Weights File

The LV Replicate Weights file contains statistical weights necessary for generating standard errors for Leave Module estimates. The LV Replicate Weights
file contains one record for each individual who responded to the Leave Module. Technical information about the LV Replicate Weights file can be found
in the text document that is enclosed in the LV Replicate Weights zip file. The formula for calculating standard errors with the replicate
weights can be found in Chapter 7 of the
ATUS User's Guide (PDF).

PRODUCING TIME-USE ESTIMATES:

Researchers often are interested in estimates of the amount of time
Americans spend doing a specific activity, such as the average time
Americans watched television in 2003. This type of estimate can be
generated by using the Basic ATUS data files. The simplest way to generate
an estimate about time use on an average day involves using the ATUS
Activity Summary file. Researchers who wish to investigate more
complicated questions, such as the amount of time Americans spent watching
TV with a family member, will need to link multiple files. To answer this
particular question, researchers would need to link the ATUS Respondent
file (to obtain the statistical weight), the ATUS Activity file (to obtain
activity information and duration), and the ATUS Who file (to obtain
information about who was with the respondent during each activity). Those generating estimates
using the module files in addition to the basic or additional
ATUS files should use the module weights. For
more information about how to calculate estimates, see Chapter 7 and Appendix J of the
ATUS User's Guide
(PDF).

LINKING THE ATUS DATA FILES:

Each of the ATUS microdata files contains useful information, but to
produce most estimates, the files must be linked. All of the microdata
files contain the variable TUCASEID, which is the ATUS identification
number. TUACTIVITY_N (the activity line number) and TULINENO (the person
line number) are two additional linking variables that can be used in
conjunction with TUCASEID.

BASIC ATUS DATA FILES

File

Linking Variables

Respondent file

TUCASEIDTULINENO (always equal to 1 on the Respondent
file)

Roster file

TUCASEIDTULINENO

Activity file

TUCASEIDTUACTIVITY_N

Who file

TUCASEIDTUACTIVITY_NTULINENO

ATUS-CPS file

TUCASEIDTULINENO

Activity summary file

TUCASEID

Eldercare roster file (2011 and later)

TUCASEIDTULINENO

ADDITIONAL ATUS DATA FILES

File

Linking Variables

Case history file

TUCASEID

Call history file (2004 and later)

TUCASEID

Trips file (2005 to 2011)

TUCASEID

Replicate weights file

TUCASEID

ATUS EH MODULE FILES

File

Linking Variables

EH Respondent file

TUCASEIDTULINENO

EH Child file (2006-2008)

TUCASEIDTULINENO

EH Activity file

TUCASEIDTUACTIVITY_N

EH Replicate weights file

TUCASEID

ATUS WB MODULE FILES

File

Linking Variables

WB Respondent file

TUCASEIDTULINENO

WB Activity file

TUCASEIDTUACTIVITY_N

WB Respondent Replicate weights file

TUCASEID

WB Activity Replicate weights file

TUCASEIDTUACTIVITY_N

ATUS LEAVE MODULE FILES

File

Linking Variables

LV Respondent file

TUCASEIDTULINENO

LV Replicate weights file

TUCASEID

The ATUS files can also be linked to CPS files.
More information is available in Appendix K of the ATUS Users Guide.